The television and video industries continue to deluge the ordinary consumer with countless video entertainment options from an ever-increasing array of providers. At present, many consumers have access to several video sources, including over-the-air television, cable, and satellite, not to mention VCR's, laser discs, DVD discs, etc. Often, all of these sources are connected to a single television or video monitor, and are selectable by a viewer, often by using one or more remote controls.
With such a wide assortment of viewing options, it becomes quite unwieldy to find and select specific programs, particularly when the programs are obtained from different video sources. Often, a series of keys must be pressed on one or more remotes to (1) select the desired video source, and (2) tune the video source to a desired channel. When an external video source is connected to a television through an RF connector and re-broadcast at a specific frequency (e.g., channel 3 or 4), the video source is selected by tuning the television to the proper channel. Universal remotes which control multiple devices have been developed to integrate control into a single device. In addition, an IR or RF transmitter may be coupled to an electronic component to enable the component to output a control signal to another device such as a cable box. However, selection of channels on different sources is still problematic because a series of keys must still be pressed to select and tune the correct video source. Often, additional keys on the remote must also be pressed so that the remote sends the signals to the appropriate devices.
Another difficulty resulting from the proliferation of video programming is that specific programs or channels are difficult to find. Particularly with cable television, different cable companies may put different programs on different channels, and may even rearrange channels from time to time, making it difficult to find a specific program.
One other specific problem occurs with direct broadcast satellite (DBS) systems due to blackout restrictions on broadcast television networks such as ABC, CBS and NBC. In particular, DBS providers are prohibited from broadcasting networks in areas served by local affiliates due to exclusivity arrangements between the networks and the affiliates. A satellite owner, wishing to view local television stations, is required to use a separate antennae or to subscribe to cable service, and must often use an A-B switch to select between local (over-the-air or cable) and satellite signals.
A similar problem is provided by cable descramblers, since premium services and pay-per-view programs can only be viewed using a separate cable box. A user may want to view programs primarily through the television tuner, however, since enhanced features such as channel block, etc. may be available through the television and not through the cable box. Thus, to view premium services, a user may be required to switch over to the cable box and tune the box to the appropriate channel.
Many viewers like to "channel surf", whereby "up" and "down" buttons are used to switch between channels in sequence to find a desired program. However, to select channels found on different video sources, a user often has to specifically select a new video source and tune the video source to the proper channel.
It would be extremely desirable for many users to be able to quickly and effortlessly view programs from different video sources without having to specifically select and tune a video source. Therefore, a significant need has continued to exist for an improved manner of integrating multiple video sources into a video system.